The present invention relates to modular storage and dispensing racks such as those used for storing and dispensing articles in supermarkets and other merchandising establishments More particularly, the present invention is directed to an improved modular rack for storing and dispensing articles such as bottles or cans, wherein the improvement is designed to permit faster and easier assembly, disassembly and modification of the rack.
Modular storage and dispensing racks are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,194,620, 3,152,697 and 4,598,828 disclose modular storage and dispensing racks.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,194,620 and 3,152,697 disclose racks for storing and dispensing cylindrical articles on their sides. The shelves of the racks are inclined so that the cylindrical articles stored on the shelves will roll to the front of the racks where they are accessible to a customer or user.
The rack disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,194,620 is constructed by horizontally stacking a number of dispenser units in such a manner as to provide a generally integrated structure. Each individual dispenser unit is divided into a number of open-ended compartments for receiving and storing batteries. Each dispenser unit also has mating members arranged in aligned pairs on opposite sides of the dispenser unit. The mating members form an interlocking connection between adjacent dispensers when the dispensers are stacked horizontally. Normally, the mating members are made out of plastic.
One drawback with the storage and dispensing unit disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,194,620 is that the plastic mating members are prone to break off during assembly and disassembly of the rack. Another drawback with this storage and dispensing unit is the presence of unused mating and interlocking members on the right and left ends of the completed unit. To avoid this drawback, either the unused mating and interlocking members must be broken off or special end dispensers must be used on the right and left ends of the unit.
The rack disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,152,697 is constructed from modular devices used for displaying, storing and dispensing a plurality of cylindrical articles. The modular devices are horizontally stacked in such a manner as to provide a generally integrated assembly. Each modular device has two parallel side walls which support internal runways or tracks. The runways or tracks are arranged so that cylindrical articles stored on the runways or tracks are accepted at the top of the modular device and directed by the runways or tracks toward the discharge area of the modular device. The modular devices also have openings in their side walls. These openings are designed to allow bolts to pass through the modular device. The bolts are used to fix adjacent modular devices next to each other to form an integrated assembly.
One drawback with the rack disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,152,697 is the use of bolts to fix adjacent modular devices next to each other to form an integrated assembly of modular devices. This is a drawback because the length of the bolts vary depending on the number of modular devices intended to be included in a given assembly. Thus, when the number of modular devices in the assembly is changed the bolts must also be changed.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,828 discloses a rack for storing or dispensing bottles or cans in an upright position. The rack is constructed from shelves and side members, and is horizontally expandable. Each shelf includes a plurality of flanges. The flanges extend from each opposing side of the shelf and are designed to be received within a plurality of apertures located in the side members. A completed rack includes at least two side members which are interconnected by at least one shelf. The flanges of the shelf snap into the apertures of the side members to interconnect the side members and fix them in a parallel relationship. To expand the rack, at least one additional shelf and one additional side member are needed. The flanges of the shelf are snapped into the apertures of one of the side members of the rack to be expanded, and then the additional side member is attached to the unsupported side of the shelf. This form of expansion allows almost unlimited horizontal expansion of the rack.
One drawback with the rack disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,828 is that the flanges for supporting the tray modules between side members are normally made out of plastic. Thus, they are also prone to break off during assembly and disassembly of the rack.
Other examples of storage and dispensing racks that can be varied in size are The Stacker-Tracker.TM. and Single-Tracker made by Mead. The Stacker-Tracker.TM. and Single-Tracker racks store and dispense bottles or cans in an upright position. The shelves of the racks are usually inclined so that the bottles or cans will slide to the front of the rack where they are accessible to a customer. These shelves are molded from plastic and designed so that their top surface consist of ten parallel tracks. Four of the ten tracks are designed so that they can be broken off. The shelf is molded so that two tracks on each end of the shelf are not as rigidly attached to the shelf as the six center tracks. This makes it easier to break the end tracks off. The purpose of the end tracks is to allow the shelves of the Stacker-Tracker.TM. and Single-Tracker shelves to be narrowed.
The Stacker-Tracker.TM. has two shelves. The top shelf is supported above the bottom shelf with two vertical support members located on each side of the shelves. Each support member has a horizontal leg attached to its top end and a horizontal leg attached to its bottom end. The bottom leg of each support member attaches to the bottom side of the bottom shelf and the top leg of each support member attaches to the bottom side of the top shelf. The length of the legs of the support members are such that they only attach to the bottom of a shelf for a distance approximately equal to the width of three tracks. Consequently, the support members do not overlap, and do not directly support the center portion of the top shelf.
One drawback with the Mead racks is the inability to increase the width of the racks once they are narrowed. Once a tray module is broken off, it cannot later be easily reconnected to the shelf.